NU Online News Service, Oct. 4, 2:59 p.m. EDT
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.–While the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers is proud of the work it did for agents leading up to the health care reform law, the association's chairman said work remains to be done to safeguard members' interests.
Speaking during the CIAB's 97th annual Insurance Leadership Forum held here this week, CIAB Chairman H. Wade Reece, the chairman and chief executive officer of BB&T Insurance Services Inc., said that despite some onerous measures in the health care bill, the CIAB lobbied on behalf of the insurance brokerage community and was able to remove measures that could have potentially harmed brokers' relationships with their clients.
"The Council's goal was to safeguard the broker position and the employer-provided group health insurance marketplace," he said. "There were a number of efforts that would have diminished the role we have with our clients, and our legislative team was able to defeat them."
He noted that despite passage of the legislation, implementation of the law is the next battleground for insurance brokers as it will take years to implement. The upcoming election could well decide the eventual fate of the law, and brokers need to support the CIAB's efforts to make brokers' interests known through support of its political action committee.
"Legislative actions have a direct impact on regulatory outcomes," he observed.
Turning to the recent financial reform legislation, Mr. Reece praised the "decades of shoe leather lobbying" that it took to finally get the surplus lines reforms enacted.
Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the payment of surplus lines taxes is streamlined in an effort to improve efficiency and reduce costs, something Mr. Reece said he is certain other brokers applaud.
Touching on the growth of the association, Mr. Reece said there are 11 new non-U.S. brokers from 10 countries attending the conference and the association is moving ahead with a new brand for U.S. and non-U.S. members named Council Global Connection.
The association, he said, is also looking to improve broker efficiency with the LexisNexis Insurance Exchange that "promises to deliver new workflow efficiencies while allowing us to pursue new business opportunities."
BUSH ADMINISTRATION ON HAND
With a handful of anti-war protestors outside of the Broadmoor Hotel, former Vice President Richard B. Cheney addressed attendees at the meeting yesterday.
Looking thin after recently receiving a heart pump, he sat with his wife, Lynne Cheney, who interviewed him about what he is currently doing. Mr. Cheney said he is working on his memoirs, saying that he always avoided doing such things in the past because it reminded him of having to write an academic dissertation that he never did.
But he said he is having fun with it, noting that he felt it was important to have a record for his family and that he found it "surprisingly rewardable."
"I think it will be a good book," he added.
The press was limited to reporting on only his initial comments.
Former President George W. Bush will address the CIAB today. The press is barred from that session.
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